NEW YORK Friends of Scotland, who were supported by a host of celebrities and backed by two Holyrood administrations, filed for bankruptcy last month.

Sean Connery at the launch of his Scottish Embassy Alba House in New York (Photo: Jae Donnelly)

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A CHARITY set up by Sir Sean Connery to promote Scottish interests in the US have gone bust owing thousands of dollars.

New York-based Friends of Scotland, who were supported by a host of celebrities and backed by two Holyrood administrations, filed for bankruptcy last month.

It’s the final blow for the charity who have been dogged by a row with their former associate Dr Geoffrey Scott Carroll.

Court papers reveal Friends of Scotland – who were bank-rolled with more than £200,000 of Scottish taxpayers’ cash – owe $31,000 (almost £20,000).

Borders-born Carroll is due £11,000 and solicitor Tingley Piontkowski is owed £8000.

FoS organised the annual Dressed to Kilt fashion show in New York, which attracted a string of A-listers.

Actors such as Gerard Butler, Kiefer Sutherland, Mike Myers and Brian Cox took part to raise cash for veterans’ charity Erskine and the Paralysed Veterans of America.

Dressed To Kilt was originally founded by Carroll.

FoS chief executive James Baron, who worked as Connery’s right-hand man, lodged documents at a court in San Jose, California, on October 16. A tax return in 2011 showed the charity had $107,456 (almost £67,000) in the bank.

The group were set up by Connery in 2001 but the 007 star’s name does not appear on any court documents.

A meeting of the charity’s creditors is scheduled for Tuesday.

Documents reveal FoS claim their assets are worth only $6200 (almost £4000) despite raising more than $1million (£620,000) in donations.

Yesterday, sources close to the charity said they were in shock.

One said: “The row between the charity and Geoffrey seems to have brought this to a head. He’s the main creditor.”

The organisation were given thousands of pounds by successive Labour and SNP governments, and Jack McConnell and Alex Salmond both attended Dressed to Kilt events in the Big Apple.

Scottish taxpayers have contributed a total of £218,000 to fund Dressed to Kilt events over the years, the money coming from the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Development International and VisitScotland.

In 2004, then First Minister Jack McConnell turned up at the event wearing a bizarre pinstriped kilt and was widely ridiculed by political opponents.

Dressed to Kilt was held during New York’s Scotland Week celebrations but it was cancelled in 2012 when Carroll and Friends of Scotland rowed over who had the rights to the event.

Carroll has launched legal action with the US Patent and Trademark Office against FoS to try to take ownership of the Dressed to Kilt trademark.

The Scottish Government said: “Between 2006 and 2011, successive administrations supported the Dressed to Kilt event as a vehicle for promoting Scotland – in particular the textiles industry.”